All posts tagged Dmity Medvedev

Maybe it was too good to be true. Less than a year after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin bragged of slaying inflation—a constant economic headache for Russia throughout the boom and bust cycles of the past two decades—along comes a catastrophe of almost biblical proportions that has sent prices soaring again, despite some strong-armed government efforts to slow their rise.

Russia’s scorching heat wave sparked wildfires that killed at least 54 people, left thousands homeless, filled Moscow with toxic smoke and caused an estimated $15 billion in damages. Analysts estimate the fires will shave 1% off Russia’s 2010 estimated GDP. The government’s chief economic headache may still be ahead, as the heat and dry skies have also produced a drought that some are calling Russia’s worst in over a century.